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Insurance policies come in all "shapes and sizes." Sometimes its hard to know what you should buy. To a certain extent, you need to find a good agent that you can trust to recommend the right coverage's for you. However, you should also have a basic knowledge of Arizona auto insurance policy coverage's. Lets step through them.
First is LIABILITY. This is the part of your Arizona auto insurance policy that provides protection to other drivers and their property that you might damage if you cause an accident. The state of Arizona requires you carrier limits of $15,000 per person for bodily injury, $30,000 per accident for bodily injury and $10,000 for property damage per accident. We advise that these limits are much much to low. In fact I wish the State would require higher limits. We recommend a minimum coverage of $100,000 per person for bodily injury, $300,000 per accident for bodily injury and $100,000 for property damage. You might thing that it would be expensive to increase to that amount, but it really is not. $15,000 to cover someone else's medical expenses if you injure them could be gone with just 1 nights stay in the hospital. You really should have more than that.
Next is Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist coverage. This part of your policy is what protects you as the driver if another party injures you and has either not enough insurance or no insurance at all. The part of your policy will kick in to help pay your medical, lost wages, etc. if you sustain bodily injury in an accident that was not your fault and the other driver either has no insurance or not enough insurance. Many experts will argue this is just as important as your liability section of your policy and therefore should be at least equal to your liability limits. We would tend to agree. That is why we recommend a minimum coverage amount of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident.
Next is the part of your policy that deals with physical damage to your car. This is Collision and "Other Than Collision," more commonly known as Comprehensive coverage. Collision and Comprehensive coverage have separate deductibles. Typically we see either $500 or $1000 deductibles associated with these two coverage's. The deductible is the part you are responsible for in the event of a claim. For insurance, you file a claim for the theft of your vehicle and agree with the insurance company that your vehicle was worth $10,000. You have a $500 deductible on your comprehensive portion of your policy. The insurance company will issue you a check for $9,500, which is the $10,000 settlement less your $500 deductible. Keep in mind, the higher the deductible on your policy the lower your premium will be. We have found that most people don't feel like they save enough money going to a higher deductible and choose to stay with around $500.
That makes up the "meat" section of your policy. The "side dishes" of your policy would include"
Towing and/or Emergency Road Side assistance
Rental Car
Full Glass coverage
Accidental Death and Dismemberment
Medpay
We do recommend a good limit for Medpay of around $5000. Medpay pays our regardless of who is at fault and it pays out immediately. No waiting for settlements or to investigation to find out who was at fault.
Of course these coverage recommendations are just general recommendations. Everyone's situation is different and should be handled on a case by case basis. If you would like a free review of your insurance policy by a certified insurance counselor, contact us at 480-981-6338 or visit us online.